Berklee Gospel & Roots Choir, Live In Concert: Newport Folk 2014

In the past, the Berklee Gospel & Roots Choir has been employed as a sort of Newport Folk Festival palate-cleanser: a way to kick off the day with something kind, approachable, reverent and rooted in many folk traditions. This year, with Mavis Staples on top of the bill, the group, which opens the proceedings on Sunday, functioned as both and a theme-setter.

As its name suggests, the group features some of the best and brightest at the talent-rich Berklee College of Music in Boston. Hear the Berklee Gospel & Roots Choir perform Negro spirituals and contemporary gospel as part of the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, recorded live on Sunday, July 27 in Newport, R.I.